An Automatic Car? What Is It?

Many people use automatic cars everyday. These cars have been a dominate force in the automotive industry for many years. As technology continues to advance, these cars continue to advance as well. When we refer to a car as automatic, what exactly are we talking about?

The term “automatic” in this case refers to the type of transmission the car is equipped with. In the automotive world there are two primary types of transmissions, manual transmissions and automatic transmissions. With a manual transmission, the driver manually changes gears by pressing the clutch pedal, shifting to the appropriate gear, releasing the clutch pedal and pressing the gas pedal. This action is repeated for each gear in any situation requiring a gear change. With an automatic transmission, the driver moves the gear shift into the drive (D) position and the transmission automatically selects the appropriate gear without any further intervention by the driver. The automatic transmission performs all up shifts and downshifts to other gears. Another difference is automatic car starts. When starting a car with an automatic transmission, make sure the gear shift is in the park (P) position, then start the car. With a manual transmission, you must press the clutch pedal and hold it down while starting the car.

Many people use automatic cars everyday. These cars have been a dominate force in the automotive industry for many years. As technology continues to advance, these cars continue to advance as well. When we refer to a car as automatic, what exactly are we talking about?

The term “automatic” in this case refers to the type of transmission the car is equipped with. In the automotive world, there are two primary types of transmissions: manual transmissions and automatic transmissions. With a manual transmission, the driver manually changes gears by pressing the clutch pedal, shifting to the appropriate gear, releasing the clutch pedal and pressing the gas pedal. This action is repeated for each gear in any situation requiring a gear change. With an automatic transmission, the driver moves the gear shift into the drive (D) position and the transmission automatically selects the appropriate gear without any further intervention by the driver. The automatic transmission performs all up shifts and downshifts to other gears. Another difference is how an automatic car starts. When starting a car with an automatic transmission, make sure the gear shift is in the park (P) position, then start the car. With a manual transmission, you must press the clutch pedal and hold it down while starting the car.